20 September 2023 10:31 am Views - 4388
An intriguing situation has emerged where both the Sri Lanka Meteorological Department and international weather forecasting agencies find themselves unable to provide weather forecasts for Sri Lanka, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.
Addressing an event yesterday, he said it has been realized that there are immense challenges against making weather predictions for a small island like Sri Lanka.
However, both the Meteorological Department and international weather forecasting institutions had previously predicted heavy rains after October 15, along with the expectation of continued dry weather until October, occasionally punctuated by a few showers.
Hence, the farmers are compelled to take calculated risks and continue with their farming activities in the foreseeable future.
"As a Ministry, we are actively working on establishing a comprehensive programme that empowers farmers to leverage the latest technology for their agricultural endeavors.
"An awareness programme will be conducted for farmers, but the issue is that most of the farmers are too old and are unable to absorb the latest technology," Amaraweera said. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)